BARTON COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a suspect on drug distribution charges.
Just before 4a.m.Wednesday, Barton County Sheriff’s Office deputies stopped a vehicle for tag and other traffic violations in the 900 block of East US 56 Highway near the City of Ellinwood, according to Sheriff Brian Bellendir.
Deputies observed what appeared to be drug paraphernalia in the vehicle. A K-9 officer was called from Stafford County leading to the discovery of methamphetamine, marijuana and prescription opioids. The officers also discovered packaging material and scales.
Deputies arrested Michael “Spike” Croslin, 47 of Hobart, Oklahoma. Croslin was transported to the Barton County jail where he was booked on charges of possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute, possession of opioids, and possession of marijuana with intent to distribute. Croslin was also charged with various traffic violations.
Croslin is currently being held in the Barton County Jail in lieu of $100,000 bond.
The Janousek Funeral Home of La Crosse, Kansas, has announced funeral services for Pauline M. Misegadis, 94, La Crosse (formerly of Bazine), will be 10:30 a.m. Monday, January 8, 2018, at Janousek Funeral Home.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A fiddle that Goodwill believes was once owned by country music legend Roy Acuff is expected to generate thousands of dollars for the charitable organization in the Kansas City area.
The fiddle was donated anonymously to Goodwill of Western Missouri and Eastern Kansas and is being sold in an online auction at shopgoodwill.com. As of Thursday morning the high bid was $7,780. The auction is open until 11 p.m. Central time Saturday.
Acuff died in 1992 at age 89. He was the first living inductee into the Country Music Hall of Fame, best known for hits such as “Wabash Cannonball and “Tennessee Waltz.”
The fiddle was made by Evart Acuff, Roy Acuff’s uncle, in August 1945 in Maryville, Tennessee. It isn’t clear why it was donated to a Kansas City Goodwill store.
“We recognized right away that it was something special and we now have it up for auction,” Raines said. “We have no information on the owner. They just donated it and moved on.”
The fiddle, made of apple wood apparently from a tree on a family farm, is now in the possession of Gary Raines, who runs Goodwill’s e-commerce program in Kansas City. He said he was confident the fiddle was Acuff’s, even though the certificate of authenticity and other paperwork are copies. The report didn’t explain how Raines reached that conclusion.
Acuff, a native of Maynardville, Tennessee, first became famous as the singer and fiddler for the Crazy Tennesseans, later called the Smoky Mountain Boys. Their hits also included “Wreck on the Highway,” ”Pins and Needles” and “Night Train to Memphis.”
Acuff performed regularly at the Grand Ole Opry and starred in the 1940 film “Grand Ole Opry.” In 1942, he and Fred Rose formed Acuff-Rose Music, which became a powerful country music publishing firm.
Welcome to Kansas election year 2018. An early look into the crystal ball of Kansas politics reveals that rural Republican voters will determine their party’s nominee for governor.
Rural votes tend to swing competitive gubernatorial primaries even though nearly half of all registered Republicans live in the five large urban counties—Douglas, Johnson, Sedgwick, Shawnee, and Wyandotte. Urban votes will be splintered among the seven creditable Republicans who have announced their intentions to run for governor. This voting pattern will likely repeat this year given that each of these seven candidates resides in one of the urban counties.
H. Edward Flentje is professor emeritus at Wichita State University.
So, who among these urban candidates will sway rural Republicans in their direction?
Four Republicans—Lt. Governor Jeff Coyler, Secretary of State Kris Kobach, Insurance Commissioner Ken Selzer, and 2006 gubernatorial nominee Jim Barnett—have experience in statewide contests and represent top-tier prospects.
Colyer has spent his professional career as a Johnson County physician but can lay claim to a rural upbringing in western Ellis County. He was elected twice to legislative seats in Johnson County before joining Brownback on the statewide ticket in 2010. In general elections, based largely on Brownback’s rural credentials, rural voters gave the Brownback/Colyer ticket an overwhelming margin in 2010 and a decisive but narrower victory in 2014. However, during his seven years in office Colyer has shown little independent connection with rural residents and will struggle to distinguish himself from the toxic Brownback brand.
Kobach chose Donald Trump, Jr., to headline his first major fundraiser and presumes to be President Trump’s anointed choice for governor. While Kobach hopes to capture Trump’s huge rural vote margin of 2016, his alliance with Trump has risks in rural Kansas. The President’s positions on immigration and trade are raising alarm among agricultural groups and businesses reliant on immigrant labor in beef, pork, and dairy operations. Further, the President’s threat to withdraw from the North American Free Trade Agreement also places agricultural exports with top trading partners, Mexico and Canada, in jeopardy. Kobach leads the field in name recognition but also disapproval and has yet to show how he will maneuver through the chaos of Trump politics.
Barnett won a competitive, seven-candidate gubernatorial primary in 2006 but was defeated by incumbent Governor Sebelius in the general election. His vote margin in that primary was bolstered by strength in rural counties, winning most large rural counties and nearly half of the smaller rural counties. In contrast to his strident conservatism of 2006, as well as the stance of his competitors this year, Barnett has applauded the repeal of Brownback’s tax experiment and become a full-throated advocate of public school funding and Medicaid expansion. His campaign will test whether rural Republican voters, who dumped seven incumbent legislative allies of Brownback in the 2016 primary, will embrace a more centrist agenda.
Selzer prevailed in a competitive, five-candidate primary in his first and only race for state office in 2014. He won soundly in his home county of Johnson over two other Johnson County candidates, narrowly succeeded in Sedgwick County, and picked up wins in a scattering of western Kansas counties. Selzer has largely avoided hot-button issues or extreme positions, focusing his campaign instead on his professional background as a CPA, business experience, and family roots in central Kansas. He trails considerably in name recognition but has the potential to attract rural primary voters.
Three Wichitans—businessmen Mark Hutton and Wink Hartman plus nonprofit executive Ed O’Malley—complete the seven-candidate field. Each will claim a share of the urban vote but faces a tall order in persuading rural Republicans to join them.
My crystal ball shows: Kobach will fade; Colyer and Barnett will be forced to debate the Brownback legacy—Colyer defending, Barnett challenging; and Selzer may be a dark horse in the field.
H. Edward Flentje is professor emeritus at Wichita State University and formerly served with Kansas Governors Bennett and Hayden.
SALINE COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating two suspects on drug and child endangerment allegations.
Just before 1 a.m. Wednesday, police received a call from 31-year-old Meaghan Moreno, according to Salina Police Captain Paul Forrester. She told police that someone was hurt inside her apartment in the 700 block of Fairdale Street in Salina.
When officers arrived, Moreno and her husband, 31-year-old Robert Moreno, did not let officers enter the apartment. When police did finally gain access, they found Meaghan, Robert and a four-year-old girl hiding.
Meaghan appeared to be under the influence of methamphetamine, according to Forrester. A search of the residence uncovered 8-grams of meth and drug paraphernalia.
Police placed the child into protective custody and arrested the parents.
They were booked on requested charges for possession of methamphetamine, possession of drug paraphernalia and child endangerment.
Longtime Goodland, KS, resident Evelyn Marie Burk, 90, passed away on Monday, December 25, 2017 at the Good Samaritan Center-Sherman County in Goodland, KS.
Evelyn was born on July 29, 1927 in Ionia, Kansas to Alfred and Angela (Colson) More.She was one of five children.She attended school in Ionia, Kansas and graduated from high school in 1945.
On May 18, 1957, she married Glenn Orvile Burk at the home of Henry and Gladys Burk in Edson, KS.To this union, one son Michael was born.She was a devoted wife, mother and grandmother, and spent most of her life working as a housewife and helping around the farm and spending time with her family.
Preceding her in death were her parents, one sister Roberta Britt and a half-sister Bernice Arendt.
She is survived by her husband Glenn, her son Mike and his wife Joyce Burk of Goodland, four grandchildren, eight great grandchildren and one great great grandchild.She is also survived by two sisters, Audrey Cooksey and her husband Charles and Gwen Jones, all of Stillwater, Oklahoma; as well as numerous nieces, nephews and friends.
Funeral services for Evelyn will be held on Monday, January 8, 2018 at 10:00 AM MT at the Koons-Russell Funeral Home in Goodland with Pastor JT Burk officiating.Burial will follow in the Goodland Cemetery, Goodland, KS.Visitation will be held on Sunday, January 7, 2018 from 3:00 to 5:00 PM MT at the funeral home.
Memorials may be designated to the Alzheimer’s Association and may be left at the services or mailed to Koons-Russell Funeral Home, 211 N. Main Ave., Goodland, KS 67735.
DICKINSON COUNTY — The K-9 with the Dickinson County Sheriff’s Department died in an accident on Friday, according to Sheriff Gareth Hoffman.
Early afternoon December 29, 2-year-old Biz, a Belgian Malinois, escaped from his Kennel and was hit by a car in the 1200 Block of Northwest 3rd Street in Abilene, according to Hoffman. A broken latch on the kennel allowed the dog to get out.
The Dickinson County Sheriff’s Department purchased Biz in 2016 in Nebraska. “We used no tax dollars to purchase the dog,” said Hoffman. “We fully intend to maintain the K-9 program here and will use no tax dollars.” The dog was insured.
Authorities are not actively looking for who hit the dog. No one has reported it. “They are in no trouble,” said Hoffman. “It was an unfortunate accident.”
TOPEKA–Governor Sam Brownback on Wednesday approved an executive order temporarily lifting regulations that restrict the hours semi-trucks hauling propane can operate.
This action ensures that residential and agricultural users have access to fuel during the bitter cold that has settled over Kansas and the Midwest.
“Kansans are currently experiencing a dangerous cold stretch,” Governor Brownback said. “When the temperatures are this cold access to propane can literally be a matter of life and death. This temporary order will aid in getting much needed propane to Kansans.”
The executive order allows semi-trucks to operate outside standard regulations for 30 days.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — One of the two men killed in a Kansas grain elevator has been identified.
Marcus Tice left behind a wife and two stepdaughters. Relatives on Wednesday confirmed his identity. The second victim has not been identified.
The men died Tuesday at the Gavilon Grain elevator in south Wichita. The bodies were recovered about three hours after the men became buried under 20 to 25 feet of grain. It isn’t clear how they got into the bin and what caused them to become trapped.
Friends and relatives of Tice have established an online fundraiser to assist his wife.
First responders on the scene of Tuesday grain bin incident south of Wichita-photo courtesy KWCH
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating.
Rep. Eber Phelps (D-Hays) 111th Dist., and 40th Dist. Sen. Rick Billinger (R-Goodland), will attend the Thu., January 4, Hays city commission work session to give a preview of the 2018 Kansas Legislative Session.
Other agenda items include a report of the City of Hays/Hays Recreation Commission (HRC) annual joint meeting. According to Hays Parks Director Jeff Boyle, the city commission will be asked to approve a $28,519.39 reimbursement for an operating loss at the Hays Aquatic Park and Wilson Pool.
The amount is slightly higher than in years past due to low attendance. In a memo to commissioners, Boyle said he believes “most of the lower attendance can be attributed to the early and mid-summer rains which kept temperatures down and patrons away.”
Conversely, the city-owned Bickle/Schmidt Sports Complex operated by HRC saw a $33,054.93 profit in 2017.
Commissioners will also hear requests for purchases of a service division dump track replacement and a recycling truck in the solid waste division.
Two-bedroom apartment — lower in upper-lower complex. Off-street parking. Rents for $450, plus $450 deposit. Water and trash included. Located at 1717 Volga Drive in Hays.
Air conditioning and washer-dryer hookups. Stove and refrigerator included. No smoking. No pets.
Call (785) 432-1510 today for more information or to schedule a walk-through!
